Snap action ball cock



Jan. 19, 1954 H. J. RAND SNAP ACTION BALL COCK Filed April 8. 1949 IN VEN TOR. HENRY J" RAND BY 4 DW ATTORNEYJ level, atwhich; time actuated means, for tripping Patented Jan. 19, 1954 2,666,441 S NiQPAGTION COCK,

Henry J2 Hands Bmtenahh Magic: Sea Inch, Bratanahl-,

tion of Ohio;

Ohio,.. assign ng to; O a. amera- Application April8, 1949; Serial-No. 86,310

This invention relates to improvements a ball cock; and: more particularly to one" in which. a detent maintains a valve in fullopen position-- until the tank-is -fil ledsuhstantiallytothedesired the detent istripped per-i mittingthe v-alvcto close quickly:

Another object of; the present invention is-toprovide. a ball; cock of the; type? described where-- in a trigger mechanism holds a detent inposition to maintain the valve fully open and float the detent' when a predeterminedwater level is reached;

Still" another object of, the presentinvention is to, provide a ball, cook or the type described wherein the flow of; water-into the-tank-normallyurges the valve toward its seat but wherein the valve is positively. held open until; the water reaches approximately.- the desired: level in the tanlgwhereupon afloatpermits the valve-to close promptly, together with positive floatactuated means for aiding in. the" closing of the valve case the water pressure is not effective to do so.

Qther objects and advantages of the present invention. Will be apparent from the accompanyins, raw ng and. descr p i n. and; the ess nt al ieatures wil'l be sctjfprthin the appended claims;

In he raw ngs,

Fig 1 is a side elevational' viewof oneforin of my improved ball; cock with only aportion of the bottom waljl1 off the, shown;

, Fig. 2 is a fragmental; top plan view of the same taken approximately. along; the line 2=-2' of F .11, while.

Iiig, 3 is a sectional view taken approximately long he in :.I :.f. e,-v

I have chosen to, illustrate my invention in connection with a valve which, is more complete- 1y disclo ed, e c ibed ad. cla m d. n nendin app ication. Serial. No.4 "1141954,, o P ent. No... 2, 59 5 6 r n. d. Nov mber '7, 5 ,,t0 which. refer ce may e h d. tor, i ther e ai t. is, sllfiipient to, st ,te. here hat this. valve. is. embodied in thepresent disclosure as incorporated in a housing H! which is mounted at the upper nd Qtthewatet nletnise J wbichl ads hr ue the bottom wall l2 oi the tank 1; reservoir in the usual manner; The valve housing has an inlet.v 9: communicating with, the line H and, an outlet t3; which, prefer-ablyis; connected with a discharge: pipe. IA. extending d wnward'ly; the tank. Intermediate, the inlet. and mulletther is. a generally cylindrical bore I" which is flared at its. upper end l-5arfor the insertion oi 't-he plug type valve and which is-flared at its lower end 45b for coaction with the valve plug in a sealing action, It willbe noted that; the central axis of the bore I 5 extends substantially in a vertical direction. In the present instance, the bore I5 is provided in a sleeve I6 of suitable metal which tank or reservoir being I I'll,

. of:- the: bone. i5. i prov d d:

'. tion. also; teaches: HOW

. although not: fiul r showthe. d w ngs the. right-hand:

is. brazed or welded; to. a; fitting; H which has, threadeds engagement; at its lower; end with flhfi? pipe kl" and threaded en eme t at ts upp end with theivalvehqus a '1 At the n et ends a valve pl g; 8. This lus is preteliably form d nte ra th: the stem 19; which ext'finds-upwardlythereirom, The; plug itself is of; resilient rubber-like. material wh se: lower end; 31 15 he o m. a t uncated: cone; the upper diameter Qt which is slightly. less: than the diameter of bore |-5 andthelower diameter. of: which is slightly: greater than the bore I15" as: taught in}, my above mentioned copending applicati n- Thfi: c pen ns ap l s.-

th s va v may: 5 .31?- b d y pushing the plug; t8 downw ly ough: thebore I55.

Means are provided; for guiding the valve- H3 in its movement fr m; open o t n. a s own. F s: 3 t a l ssdpositi n wh reithe: pl s l =h s at least partially-- entered intov the; lower; portion ofithaoore I 5. Myrcopending application teaches how the side walls; of; the plug t8; produce a line contact: where, the flare, I51 jo ns; hQ, b re. 5. 5.0 that: a complete, seat is,- forrned n; a, substantially frictionlessmannellz, 'Eo g ul, the valve; in it vertical: reciprocation; I hav provided a cylinr. drical sleeve zfiiWhiChg slid-ingly embracescavalve stem. guide lefia, which, in. the form shown, is made integral with. the Stern. IS, A ring, of suitable packing may be; provided at the; zone; 21;. Atzthe upper nd o he c lin r cal p rt on 91; an enlareed head: 21 pr s d d;- Thelower 1 than of the head 2.22 s or. arg r am t r than the upperno th- Ztai A. t on of? b h e lar er and smaller diame n rtions of th s, head are cut away" a one. t e: lin s: .,3- nd. 4- F g, to. receive. an actuatin arm, 2.13; which is com nested in a manner later described with thezfiQat 26; This provides. a. platfgorm; 21, beneath the: end of the; actuator arm and a fla e 8 ove t e end of the act a or arm).

A bracket: is: form-9. at .1 8; sideof thezupper portion or the valvelhousine; l0 a d up or on a. pivot. an; the: actuato arm. Ztwhich s r ade or otherwise connected with a U-sheug ed float arm a t. which; sa utesat; ts; 1 1 12: and; he holl float; 2.8; which. is adapted to; rest; upon the Water in the! tank which is; flihQVQ- the bottom wall, 12, At of the; valve; housing L0. is rovided n. unst rains acket. 3 havin a ivot. as; upon whi h is oun ed d haned arm 34: which carries at: its lower; inner end a detent This detent: is preiesably threaded through the arm 34 so as tube adiustablei The. free end of the detent engages in a horizontally extending groove 3 6: which extends somewhat more than halfe-wayaround the head 22 asclearly shown. Fig. 2. When the detent is in holding position,

the arm 34 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and in the full line position of Fig. 3. A pin 3'! threaded through the float arm 3! passes through an opening in the upper right-hand end of the arm 34 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The lower end of this pin has an enlarged head 31a adapt ed to engage the under side or" arm 34 as the float rises, so that in the dotted position of arm 35 in Fig. 3 the float has just tripped the detent arm 34 causing the detent 55 to leave the groove 35. The play of pin 3'! from the full line position of Fig. 3 to the dotted line position, when head 37a engages the lower face of arm 34,;110- vides a lost motion connection.

It is believed that the action of my device will now be apparent. With the parts in the position of Fig. 1 and in the full line position of Fig. 8, the tank has been flushed and the float 25 has moved to its lowermost position. The valve l8 has been moved to its fully open position and the downward movement is stopped by the enlarged head 22 engaging against the sleeve 29. The actuator arm 25 has its end firmly pressed against the platform 27 and it is held in this position by the weight of the valve actuating and guiding parts and the float 2t. Preferably the float is provided with an internal weight Zea to insure that it is heavy enough to hold the valve [8 closed against the upward rush of water through the pipe I l As the water reaches the desired level or almost the desired level. the float 2G is raised slightly from the position of Fig. 1 until the parts reach the dotted line position of Fig. 3. The head 31a of the pin 3'5 then oscillates the arm 34 slightly in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 33 as clearly shown in Fig. 3, causing the detent to be withdrawn from the groove 38. moment, the head 25a of the actuator arm 25 is raised above the platform 27 to the dotted line position as clearly shown in Fig.3. As the detent 35 is moved out of the groove 3%, usually the force of the water acting beneath the valve plug 58 will cause the valve to snap upward quickly to a closed position. If the valve i8 is thus completely closed, the water ceases to flow into the tank, the float ceases to rise and the parts remain in the broken line position of Fig. 3 until the tank is again flushed.

If the valve I8 is not completely closed by the a" action just described, the float 2E3 continues to rise upon the water until the arms 3! and 25 reach the dot-dash position of Fig. 3, or at least move toward that position. This causes the head 25a of the arm 25 to push upwardly on the underside of the cap 28, thus positively lifting all of the parts connected with the valve i3 toward the dot-dash position of cap 23 shown in Fig. 3. This insures positive closing of the valve iii in case the water pressure has not done so previously.

My invention thus provides means for positively holding the valve H3 in fully open position by means of the detent 35 until the tank is filled substantially to the desired level, at which time the detent is released and the valve tends to snap shut by the force of the water flowing through it. In any case, positive means is provided for moving the valve Is to closed position so as to insure the stoppage of the water flow at the desired tank level.

What I claim is:

1. In a ball cook, a water inlet, a valve housing connected with said inlet and having an At this outlet, a cylindrical valve bore in said housing communicating between said inlet and outlet, 21 valve seat at the inlet end of said bore, a valve in said housing on the inlet side of said seat and closing in the direction of water flow, said valve being of resilient rubber-like material of truncated cone shape having an upper diameter slightly less than the diameter of said bore and having a lower diameter slightly greater than said bore, a stem connected with said valve and having a head containing a horizontal groove, a platform and a cap on said head spaced apart vertically, an actuator arm positioned between said platform and said cap, a float operatively connected with said arm to move the latter against said platform by downward movement of said float and to move said arm against said cap by upward movement of said float, a detent having operative engagement with said groove for holding said valve fully open, and an operative connection between said float and detent for releasing the latter from said engagement with said groove, said operative connection having a lost motion connection taken up only after said float has risen almost to valveclosing position.

2. In a ball cock, a water inlet, a valve housing connected with said inlet and having an outlet, a cylindrical valve bore in said housing communicating between said inlet and outlet, a valve seat at the inlet end of said bore, a valve in said housing on the inlet side of said seat and closing in the direction of water flow, said valve being of resilient rubber-like material of truncated cone shape having an upper diameter slightly less than the diameter of said bore and having a lower diameter slightly greater than said bore, a stem connected with said valve and having a head containing a horizontal groove,

a platform and a cap on said head spaced apart vertically, a float arm containing a float at one, end and an actuator arm at the other end, said actuator arm positioned between said platform and said cap, said float moving the actuator arm against the platform by downward movement of the float and moving said actuator arm against saidcap by upward movement of said float, an L-shaped arm pivotally mounted on said valve housing having an adjustable detent at one end, said detent having operative engagement with said groove for holding the valve fully open, the other end of said L-shaped arm being operatively connected to said float arm, said operative connection having a lost motion connectiontaken up only after said float has risen almost to valve closing position, thereby releasing said detent from engagement with said groove and allowing the valve to seal in said valve bore in a substantially frictionless manner.

HENRY J. RAND.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Asselin Jan. 12, 1M3 

